Building Boulder City . Hoover Dam . WGBH American Experience | PBS Other General Articles For citizens shaken by the tumultuous effects of the Great Depression , the Hoover Dam project provided two essentials that were in short supply: work and housing. At the project’s start, those who were lucky enough to be hired on as laborers were forced to hunker down, families and all, in a dry and barren spot called Ragtown. Ila Clements-Davey, the daughter of a dam worker, recalls the place: “There was just nothing. There was no facility. Nothing. There was nothing green around here. Everything was baked, hot, and brown.” By 1932, however, dam workers’ living conditions improved as Boulder City, located on a broad ridge above Hemenway Wash, neared completion. Boulder City was essentially a government reservation, constructed under the jurisdiction of the Reclamation Service. It had large dormitories for single men, and one-, two-, and three-room cottages for families. An enormous mess hall served 6000 meals a day. Every week, 12 tons of fruit and vegetables were shipped in along with five tons of meat and two-and-a-half tons of eggs.

For $1.50 a day, a man received three square, all-you-can-eat meals. As the construction project wore on, Boulder City expanded. Its landscape was said to have changed so rapidly that it was common for a man to come home after his shift and walk into the wrong house. Despite providing the valued comforts of shelter and sustenance, there was no mistaking Boulder City for anything less than a fortified camp. The security gate at its entrance, erected during a period of labor unrest in 1931, was there to remind all who entered that there were rules to be followed. Banned was any hint of the gambling, drinking, or prostitution that flourished down the highway in Las Vegas. Overseeing the operation of this model town was a 69-year-old former newspaper editor and Justice Department employee named Sims Ely. Ely possessed all legal, moral, and judicial power in Boulder City. He was both known and feared as an “iron-fisted gentleman.” Boulder City resident Mary Ann Merrill remembered Ely as “a hard man.” “I guess he was fair in a lot of ways, but he had his own ideas and he put them into practice. And you had to go by his rules.

He thought of it as his town,” Merrill went on to say. While Boulder City provided plenty of order, it lacked any formal education system or adequate health care. The U.S. government provided no funds to set up schools within the town, and the small amount of money donated by Six Companies was only enough to set up makeshift schoolhouses. Six Companies did underwrite a hospital, which opened in 1932, but it provided care only for dam workers. Their spouses and children were left to fend for themselves. Such exclusion was not unheard of in Boulder City. Despite the emergence of an interdependent civic life, complete with a library and church, Boulder City’s sense of community excluded minorities . African American, Native American, and Hispanic dam workers were not allowed to live within the gates of this makeshift desert oasis. Hoover Dam - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google At the turn of the 20th century, farmers sought to divert the Colorado River to budding Southwestern communities via a series of canals. When the Colorado broke through the canals in 1905, creating the inland Salton Sea, the job of controlling the raging river fell to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Bureau director Arthur Powell Davis in 1922 outlined a plan before Congress for a multipurpose dam in Black Canyon, located on the Arizona- Nevada border. Named the Boulder Canyon project, after the original proposed site, the dam would not only control flooding and irrigation, it would generate and sell hydroelectric power to recoup its costs. Still, the proposed $165 price tag concerned some lawmakers, while representatives of six of the seven states in the river drainage area—Colorado, Wyoming , Utah , New Mexico , Arizona and Nevada —worried that the water would primarily go to California . Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover brokered the 1922 Colorado River Compact to divide the water proportionally among the seven states, but the legal wrangling continued until outgoing President Calvin Coolidge authorized the Boulder Canyon Project in December 1928. In honor of the new president’s contributions, Secretary of the Interior Ray L. Wilbur announced the structure would be called Hoover Dam at a 1930 dedication ceremony, though the name didn’t become official until 1947. As the Great Depression unfolded, hopeful laborers descended on Las Vegas and set up camp in the surrounding desert for the chance to work on the project.

Those who were hired eventually moved to Boulder City, a community specifically built six miles from the work site to house its employees. Meanwhile, the U.S. government set about finding a contractor to build the proposed 60-story arch dam. The contract was awarded in March 1931 to Six Companies, a group of construction firms that had pooled its resources to meet the steep $5 million performance bond. The first difficult step of construction involved blasting the canyon walls to create four diversion tunnels for the water. Facing strict time deadlines, workers toiled in 140-degree tunnels choked with carbon monoxide and dust, conditions that prompted a six-day strike in August 1931. When two of the tunnels were complete, the excavated rock was used to form a temporary coffer dam that successfully rechanneled the river’s path in November 1932. The second step of involved the clearing of the walls that would contain the dam. Suspended from heights of up to 800 feet above the canyon floor, high scalers wielded 44-pound jackhammers and metal poles to knock loose material, a treacherous task that resulted in casualties from falling workers, equipment and rocks.

Meanwhile, the dried riverbed allowed for construction to begin on the powerplant, four intake towers and the dam itself. Cement was mixed onsite and hoisted across the canyon on one of five 20-ton cableways, a fresh bucket capable of reaching the crews below every 78 seconds. Offsetting the heat generated by cooling concrete, nearly 600 miles of pipe loops were embedded to circulate water through the poured blocks, with workers continually spraying the concrete to keep it moist. As the dam rose, block by block, from the canyon floor, the visual renderings of architect Gordon Kaufmann took form. Electing to emphasize the imposing mass of the structure, Kaufmann kept the smooth, curved face free of adornment. The powerplant was given a futuristic touch with horizontal aluminum fins for windows, while its interior was designed to pay homage to Native American cultures. With the body of water that would become Lake Mead already beginning to swell behind the dam, the final block of concrete was poured and topped off at 726 feet above the canyon floor in 1935. On September 30, a crowd of 20,000 people watched President Franklin Roosevelt commemorate the magnificent structure’s completion.

Approximately 5 million barrels of cement and 45 million pounds of reinforcement steel had gone into what was then the tallest dam in the world, its 6.6 million tons of concrete enough to pave a road from San Francisco to New York City. Altogether, some 21,000 workers contributed to its construction. Hoover Dam fulfilled the goal of disseminating the one-wild Colorado River through the parched Southwest landscape, fueling the development of such major cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Capable of irrigating 2 million acres, its 17 turbines generate enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes. The dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and one of America’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders in 1994. It receives some 7 million visitors annually, while Lake Mead, the world’s largest reservoir, hosts another 10 million as a popular recreation area. Tags Men Who Built Hoover Dam | Ragtown | Facts Men, Women & Children of Hoover Dam Lest We Never Forget After almost 70 years, Hoover Dam is still considered an engineering wonder.

It rose from the almost impossible to a resounding success that dramatically enhanced the quality of life for millions and millions upon millions more in future lifetimes. The unharnessed power of the Colorado River became mastered. Much needed water was funneled to fertile but arid lands. Agricultural production suddenly blossomed and will flourish for infinite generations. Hydroelectric power is an economical source that will supply ample demands for lifetimes. And a scenic by-product of Hoover Dam is Lake Mead a water-lovers spectacle that is enjoyed by millions every year. But the real story behind Hoover Dam is the thousands who built it and the families that endured the living hell to bring it all to realty. In particular those that died on the job or resulting from the harsh conditions. Construction of Hoover Dam would not begin until April of 1931, but men and families began drifting into Las Vegas (30 miles from the dam site) in early 1929 in hopes of dam construction employment. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, an avalanche of unemployed poured in for a limited number of Hoover Dam construction jobs.. Many came with life’s possessions, wives, children and little to no money.

In those days, Las Vegas was a small desert outpost and not nearly prepared for the thousands of “new residents” that had no choice but to live in squalid, tightly compacted tent cities. Dam construction was months away. There was no guarantee of employment, but many had nowhere else to go and those that did had no money to get there. Through the benevolence of many citizens of Las Vegas that provided food, care and clothing, the migrants managed to survive very tough conditions. Prompted by the Depression and mounting stress on future dam workers and the town of Las Vegas, the government pushed the construction to begin six months early. Although the federal government had begun planning for housing and human welfare infrastructure, the quickened construction schedule left no time for barracks or housing to be built. Living conditions compared to Las Vegas would become worse for many workers. Since most people equated being close to the dam site with the success of getting a job, most decided to live at the job site. Some who had transportation stayed in Las Vegas to make the daily commute through 30 miles of the dusty and bumpy Boulder road. The infamous community of “Ragtown” on the floor of Black Canyon next to the Colorado River was born.

The makeshift shantytown consisted of tents, cardboard boxes, tin scraps and anything else that could serve as shelter against the scalding heat of summer and freezing nights of winter. Ragtown swelled to 1400 people and ballooned to 5,000 men, women and children. The first summer of 1931 in Ragtown was beyond harsh, it was devastating. With average July temperatures of 116 degrees and approaching 130 degrees on the floor of Black Canyon combined with swirling dust and no natural shade, over 25 men, women and children died in that first June-July period of heat conditions. Although clouded with sediment, the ever flowing water from the Colorado River was sufficient for bathing. The women would drape wet cloth over baby cradles to cool them. Fresh milk was no option and canned food was the only way to avoid spoilage. A man by the name of Murl Emery and his family provided compassionate relief. They opened a store in Ragtown for dam workers and families with food and supplies trucked from Las Vegas.

With low hourly labor rates of 50 cents an hour, Murl Emery permitted Ragtown residents to pay what they could afford. Credit was issued on the honor system and only one person ever failed to pay his debt. That was because the customer had died. With no help from the government or the contracted dam building firm, it was Murl Emery and family that provided some relief in form of food and tangible needs. Times were tough and harsh on everyone, but especially on the blacks. In the 1930s racism and segregation was rampant and the attitude of the Six Companies, Inc. who had been awarded the building contract of Hoover Dam was no exception. Many blacks came to Las Vegas and Black Canyon with hopes of finding dam building jobs and most were turned away because of racism. The federal government mandated that Six Companies, Inc. hire more black workers but made only a token effort by hiring less than 30 blacks. They were given only the demeaning jobs such as debris cleanup and other labor functions undesired by white workers. To compound the difficulty facing the black workers, they weren’t permitted to live in Ragtown and had to commute daily from Las Vegas. Six Companies, Inc.

also had employment practices that expressly restricted the hiring of “chinamen”. In spite of an abundance of Native Americans in the region just a few were ever hired. All of them were given the most dangerous of jobs, which was “high scaling” dangling precariously on the canyon walls while clearing obstructions for the eventual joining of dam ends to those canyon cliffs. However, they were paid a higher hourly rate versus general laborers and were permitted to live in Ragtown and eventually in Boulder that became a town for dam workers. The federal government had already begun plans to build a dam workers town on federal land above and close by Black Canyon where Hoover Dam would stand. They pushed forward to quickly achieve workers relief with barracks, housing, stores and general public welfare with churches and schools for the children. That town which became Boulder City, Nevada was completed in 1932. Boulder City thrives today as a quiet town that overlooks Lake Mead and rides high above Hoover Dam. Some that worked in those horrid conditions of Ragtown still reside in Boulder City and many of the “Ragtown Children” are actively involved in the community that provides some of the most rewarding quality of life in America.

Photos compliments of: Hoover Dam facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Hoover Dam COPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. Hoover Dam In 1928, the U.S. Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon Project, later known as Hoover Dam. The project's success helped usher several decades of major water projects funded by the U.S. government. Hoover Dam is located on the border between Arizona and Nevada . It is within Black Canyon on the Colorado River, near Las Vegas . The construction of Hoover Dam began in 1931. When completed in 1936, the dam was a major engineering achievement at a height of 221 meters (726 feet) and crest-width of 379 meters (1,244 feet). The reservoir that formed behind the dam is Lake Mead, one of the world's largest artificially created bodies of water. It covers an area of 603 square kilometers (233 square miles), and its shoreline measures 885 kilometers (550 miles). The hydroelectric generators of Hoover Dam—capable of supplying nearly 1.5 million kilowatts of power—provide electricity to Arizona, southern California , and Nevada.

Construction and Benefits Before the construction could start, the Colorado River had to be diverted through tunnels. These tunnels would allow the water to bypass the site of the dam foundation, and later would contain the electric plant generators. Building tunnels directly through the canyon rock walls required huge amounts of dynamite in order to remove rock, and enormous support structures to maintain the passageways. Once the first two tunnels where in place, cofferdams were built to divert the Colorado River. This accomplishment signaled that the actual dam construction could begin. Base Surface. Because of its importance in the overall integrity of the dam, the foundation was a major factor in building a structure that would be assured not to fail. This necessitated the removal of the mud and muck at the river bottom. Workers with the assistance of power shovels excavated over 382,300 cubic meters (500,000 cubic yards) of these deposits in order to reach bedrock , sometimes over 12 meters (40 feet) below. At the same time, workers called "high scalers" blasted the walls to create a smooth joining surface for the dam. Pouring Concrete.

On June 6, 1933, the pouring of concrete began at the dam's base. Two-hundred-thirty blocks of concrete, totaling a volume of 2.49 million cubic meters (3.25 million cubic yards), were used to complete the base on May 29, 1935. This pouring process was necessary to allow the concrete to properly dry. It was stated that enough concrete was used to pave a 4.9-meter (16-foot) wide highway from San Francisco to New York City. The filling of Lake Mead now began. Why Build? The main reason for building Hoover Dam was to supply the electrical power necessary to transport 4.4 million acre-feet—over a quarter of the Colorado River's average annual flow—to California. Soon, the dam also would supply water to Las Vegas, whose revenue would be used to finance more water projects. Hoover Dam also allowed waterworks along the lower Colorado to be safely constructed and maintained as they operated upstream on a (now) tamely flowing river. Benefits and Impacts. Because of Hoover Dam, the Colorado River was controlled for the first time in history.

Farmers received a dependable supply of water in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Numerous cities such as Los Angeles , San Diego , and Phoenix were given an inexpensive source of electricity, permitting population growth and industrial development. Hoover Dam also provided for flood control and irrigation . Even prior to its completion however, concerns were expressed over the potential impacts of Hoover Dam on aquatic systems. Research performed in the ensuing years shows that significant changes have occurred to the chemical, physical, and biological processes of associated ecosystems , including declines in species of fish. Hoover Dam dramatically altered the hydrologic regime of the Colorado River, for example. Prior to the 1930s, it carried approximately 125 million tons of suspended sediment to its delta at the head of the Gulf of California. At present, the Colorado River does not discharge either sediment or water to the gulf. see also Bureau of Reclamation, U.S.; Colorado River Basin; Dams; Economic Development; Fish and Wildlife Issues; Hydroelectric Power; Instream Water Issues; Reservoirs, Multipurpose. William Arthur Atkins COPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. HOOVER DAM HOOVER DAM.

Located in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River, Hoover Damlies about thirty miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The federal government built it for flood control, navigation, irrigation, water storage, and power generation. Farmers in the region experienced disastrous Colorado River floods before the dam was constructed. Herbert Hoover first proposed a dam for the Colorado River when he became secretary of commerce in 1921. At the time his plan involved a dam in Boulder Canyon. After he became president, Hoover proposed an "upper" and a "lower" basin, a compromise that made a dam possible by dividing the water among the states affected by the river and its tributaries. Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming entered the Colorado River Compact in 1922, and in 1928 Congress authorized the construction of Boulder Dam, which later became the Hoover Dam. During the Great Depression the government contractor, Six Companies, six formerly independent companies that had merged to get the job, constructed the dam, the highest concrete arch dam in the United States.

Lake Mead, the reservoir the dam impounds, is one of the largest human-made lakes in the world, with an area of 247 square miles. The dam itself is 726.4 feet from the foundation rock on the roadway to the crest, with towers and ornaments extending another 40 feet above the crest. It weighs more than 6.6 million tons. With 17 turbines, the power facility has a nameplate capacity of 2.074 million kilowatts. Of the thousands of people who worked on the dam between 1930 and 1936, ninety-six workers died from accidents directly relating to the building of the dam and dozens more from related ailments. Before the dam could even be started, Boulder City had to be built to house the workers, and miles of highways and railroads from the dam site to Boulder City and from there to Las Vegas had to be constructed. In the first step of building the dam, men attached to ropes were hoisted over the edge of the canyon, where they scraped loose rock from the canyon walls by hand. Four tunnels diverted the flow of the river, and a ton of dynamite was required to dig fourteen feet.

The dam itself was made up of columns filled slowly with concrete. To cool the chemical heat released by the concrete, ice water ran through the equivalent of 582 miles of one-inch diameter pipes embedded in the concrete. After the columns were filled and cooled, grout was poured between them to make the structure monolithic. The Hoover Dam was seen as a triumph of humans over nature. It was the first human-made structure to exceed the masonry mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza. By the twenty-first century the dam was regarded ambivalently, sustaining environmentalists' criticism that it in fact damaged or destroyed an ecosystem. BIBLIOGRAPHY Carothers, Steven W., and Bryan T. Brown. The Colorado River through Grand Canyon: Natural History and Human Change. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991. Dunar, Andrew J., and Dennis McBride. Building Hoover Dam: An Oral History of the Great Depression. New York: Twayne, 1993. Stevens, Joseph E. Hoover Dam: An American Adventure. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. RuthKaplan The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press Hoover Dam, 726 ft (221 m) high and 1,244 ft (379 m) long, on the Colorado River between Nev. and Ariz.; one of the world's largest dams. Built between 1931 and 1936 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the dam is named for President Herbert Hoover ; from 1933 to 1947 it was known as Boulder Dam. A key unit on the Colorado , the dam is a major supplier of hydroelectric power and provides for flood control, river regulation, and improved navigation. Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead , the largest reservoir in the United States; water is used to irrigate more than 650,000 acres (263,000 hectares) in S California and Arizona, and c.400,000 acres (162,000 hectares) in Mexico.

The nearby O'Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge (2010), with the longest concrete arch, 1,079 ft (329 m), in the United States, crosses the river below the dam. Hoover Dam is part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area (see National Parks and Monuments , table). Boulder City , Nev., was built to house workers on the project. See J. E. Stevens, Hoover Dam (1988). Cite this article Hoover Dam Info Hoover Dam Info Marine Radio Protocol These pictures to the right were take in 1935 when one of the largest hydroelectric projects in US history was close to completion, Hoover Dam. The project was started in 1932 during the Hoover era and finished May 29, 1935 during the Roosevelt era. The dam planning stage started in 1920's to tame the mighty Colorado river. This project was primarily needed to alleviate the constant flooding of the Imperial Valley, regularly breaking manmade dikes and levies and ruining farmlands for years.

In 1905 the river overflowed so much that it flowed over 50 miles to create the Salton Sea, filling what was once an ancient dry lakebed. Unfortunately man had been mining salt from this dry lakebed for years to provide salt to the LA area. The flooding of the salt mine eliminated LA's source for salt, and as a result this new body of fresh water turned salty, today 5 times as salty as the ocean! Hence, the need to tame the Colorado river was of high importance to prevent future disasters. 15yrs later Hoover Dam was conceived. The site of Hoover Dam was very key for the project to hold one of the largest manmade bodies of water in the country. Near Boulder Canyon, the dam was originally called Boulder Canyon Dam. The nearby down of Boulder City was created specifically to house and feed the workers that built the dam, not to mention manufacture many of the parts for the dam, like penstock pipes. Even by today's standards Hoover Dam was a gigantic project. At the time it was the worlds largest project made with concrete, not to mention the largest public works project in US history.

Keep in mind there were no computers, this was all done on paper using a slide rule and pure ingenuity. It's an amazing engineering accomplishment. After years of planning the project began in the middle of the Great Depression. Workers were easy to find, pay was good for those times but the work was dangerous and very hot during the summer. Work occurred 24X7 to finish the project as soon a feasibly possible, and it was finished 2yrs ahead of schedule. The first job was to divert the river which began in 1932. This was done by building two cofferdams to prevent flooding and divert water around the construction project using diversion tunnels. At the same time the diversion project was underway, the canyon walls were prepared to hold the new dam by clearing loose rocks with dynamite and bulldozers. Remnants from the canyon clearing aided the building of the cofferdams. Over the a total of 5yrs of construction (April 1931to March 1936) there was an average crew of 3500 men that worked on the project daily. Over this 5yr period there were over 21,000 individuals that worked on the dam.

Monthly payroll during the 5 years for an average crew of 3500 was $500,000, or $140/mo per worker. Pouring thick concrete has it's own problems. The curing process of concrete creates heat. Thick bodies of concrete cannot cure evenly, required for strength and integrity to prevent cracks. Another problem is the concrete needs to cure fast enough to stay on schedule. To address these problems the concrete was poured in 5ft thick sections with embedded cooling pipes that run water through the concrete to cool the concrete evenly and quickly. These 1" pipes are still in the dam concrete today, over 582 miles of pipe! But even today the concrete is still curing, harder and harder every year......... 75yrs later. The dam is a whooping 725ft high, 2nd highest in the country. The dam generators produce over 2000 megawatts of power from water turning might generator turbines. Besides the massive watershed and electrical power the dam generates, it also provides an incredible playground for boaters and fisherman.

Lake Mead was named after the dam's project manager, Elwood Mead who was a legend in his own time with such an incredible engineering project, successfully done without computers! With the rugged working conditions, dangerous and hot, there were 112 lives lost from various reasons, such as accidents, heat stroke and heart failure. In the very beginning when work started there was a strike attempt which failed, but resulted in more attention to providing water hydration to workers on a regular basis.... well duh! Originally deemed the Boulder Canyon Dam, in 1931 it was named Hoover Dam by Ray Wilbur, President Hoovers interior secretary. This was very controversial as Hoover was commonly blamed for starting the Great Depression. Later when Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1932 (before the dam was finished) it was renamed "Boulder Dam" by Harold Ickes, FDR's interior secretary who disliked Hoover and his economic policies. In 1947 the dam was renamed "Hoover Dam" by President Truman under pressure from Congress as the public forgot about President's Hoover's handling of the Great Depression.

Hoover Dam | Bureau of Reclamation The Story of Hoover Dam - Articles The Grand Dam by Julian Rhinehart When Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s, the great dam was known for its engineering superlatives. It was the highest dam ever built, the costliest water project, home of the largest power plant of its time. Today, as Hoover celebrates its 60th anniversary, we can see that the dam is not only an engineering wonder. It also is a work of art. Few structures in America display the diversity of design and craftsmanship that you see at Hoover Dam. It is a showcase of seldom-seen skills of artists and artisans--beautifully presented terrazzo tiles, sculpture, metalwork, and even military emplacements. The dam's architectural design varies a great deal from its initial plans. Bureau of Reclamation engineers, more concerned with flood control than appearance, simply wanted to embellish the dam with eagles, cornices, and other ornamentation. The more streamlined look of the completed project was influenced by two men who were not engineers: architect Gordon B.

Kaufmann, known for his design of the Los Angeles Times Building, and artist Allen True, whose murals are prominent in the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Kaufmann was a native of London, England, who lived in Southern California. He had been enlisted to help design the Administration Building in Boulder City, the federal town being built to house dam workers. After he was asked to comment on the aesthetics of the dam's proposed design, Kaufmann became totally involved in the project. Richard Guy Wilson, architecture professor at the University of Virginia and a student of the dam, notes that the architect apparently was retained to counterbalance the engineers' focus on "functionality rather than aesthetics." Kaufmann simplified the dam's design and replaced ornamentation with the flowing lines of Modernism and Art Deco. The four areas where his influence is most visible are the power plant, dam crest, intake towers, and spillways. He transformed the power plant with color and facades. He blended four protruding towers on the crest into the face of the structure. He smoothed the upper portions of the four intake towers and reworked the two spillways to accent Art Deco elements.

"There was never any desire or attempt to create an architectural effect or style," he later explained, "but rather to take each problem and integrate it to the whole in order to secure a system of plain surfaces relieved by shadows here and there." The architect later produced progressively simplified designs for downstream Parker Dam and for Shasta Dam in Northern California. Allen True, the Denver artist, assisted Kaufmann with interior designs and color. True was responsible for one of the dam's most distinctive motifs--the Southwestern Indian designs in the terrazzo floors. Using such sources as an Acoma bowl and Pima basket, True linked Native American geometric concepts with Art Deco design. Many of the Indian designs were based on centrifugal themes, which related to the turbines in the power plant. True's colors were truly striking. He used black, white, green and dull-red ochre chips in the terrazzo floors to contrast with the black-marble walls. True also specified the red color for the generator shells in the power plant, a sight that still commands visitors' attention. You can see the power plant and terrazzo work during a tour of the dam. Following an elevator descent of 530 feet, you emerge into seemingly endless galleries.

There you find gleaming terrazzo floors imbedded with the Southwestern Indian patterns adapted by True from baskets, pottery, and sand paintings. Two Italian immigrant brothers, Joseph and John Martina, installed the terrazzo floors in 1936-37 with the help of 30 countrymen. John served as contractor for the job and worked with Reclamation officials. Joe, barely able to speak English when they bid on the job, was in charge of laying the floors. The Martina brothers contracted to install the terrazzo for 48 cents per square foot, for a total of only $51,718. Costs today would exceed $20 per square foot. To create the terrazzo, the workers imbedded marble chips in cement, separating them with brass or aluminum divider strips to make a tiled pattern. After the mosaic hardened, they used large finishing machines to polish the surfaces. The result was a lustrous terrazzo. On top of the dam, two "Winged Figures of the Republic" dominate the Nevada approach, They are the work of sculptor Oskar J.W. Hansen, a Norwegian immigrant who was appointed a consulting sculptor by Secretary of the Interior Harold L.

Ickes following a national competition. Hansen said the 30-foot bronzed statues represented "that eternal vigilance which is the price of liberty." Perched on six-foot-tall cues of gleaming black diorite, Hansen's figures flank a 142-foot flagpole. In front of this array he placed a terrazzo star map depicting the celestial alignment from that site on the evening of September 30, 1935, the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated what was then called Boulder Dam. Hansen also created the nearby bronze plaque memorializing the 96 workers who died during construction of the dam. An inscription proclaims, "They died to make the desert bloom." You can see more of Hansen's work on the two elevator towers. Each displays five bas-reliefs that tell a story. The Arizona tower has a tribute to Native American tribes and their Great Spirit of the ranges and the plains. The five Nevada panels portray the dam's main purposes -- flood control, navigation, irrigation, water storage, and power. Away from the tour route, and off-limits to the public, are two unique forms of craftsmanship that appeared after the dam's completion in 1935.

The first is found in the power plant's "gold room," where solid-copper cabinetry surrounds heavy copper bars carrying electricity from generators to transformers. Fred Johnson, electrical engineer at Hoover Dam, says the name "gold room" probably derived from the bright finishes of the copper cabinets, but rumors persist that the metal has a high gold content. The other curiosity stands above the dam. If you look on the Arizona (eastern) side of Lake Mead, you will see a cubical silhouette. This is a gun emplacement built during World War II. As a major source of electrical power for the defense industry, Hoover Dam was considered a primary military target. Of several bunkers that guarded the dam in wartime, this one is the last survivor. The pillbox, constructed of steel and concrete and veneered with local rock, is 24 feet long and has six gun ports. It was built by a military police battalion soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, according to Lincoln Clark of Las Vegas. A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, Clark was a first lieutenant when stationed at the dam in 1942. He and his fellow soldiers guarded the dam and escorted civilian vehicles across it.

One soldier was always inside in the bunker, Clark recalls, and a squad of riflemen was scattered in the rocks 24 hours a day. Thus the soldiers demonstrated the "eternal vigilance" that Oskar Hansen sought to portray in his handsome winged figures, seen by all who cross the dam. Hansen, an intensely creative sculptor, showed his sense of humor one day at the dam. While he was working on the sculptures, a woman asked him how he began such an endeavor. "Madam," Hansen replied, "when you peel an orange, do you begin by sticking your thumb into its center?" He meant that a sculptor must take all parts of a work into consideration before "peeling" away the unused material. Today we can admire the way Hansen and other artists and craftsmen peeled away Hoover Dam to create a structure of beauty as well as utility. Last Updated: 3/13/15 Boulder City / Hoover Dam : Las Vegas 360 Boulder City / Hoover Dam July 4, 2011 Boulder City Boulder City was built by the federal government to house the thousands of workers who were building the Hoover Dam project in the 1930s.

In order to keep these workers away from the temptations of Las Vegas, Boulder City was founded and gambling was made illegal. This quaint town remains the only community in Nevada were gaming is still illegal. Management and maintenance crews of Hoover Dam are now the predominant residents of Boulder City. This unique town is a vibrant community, with a movie theater, numerous gift shops, parks and a historic hotel. Call the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce for more information 702.293.2034 Hoover Dam Hoover Dam- is one of the seven man-made wonders of the world. The dam is 727 feet high (70 stories) and 660 feet thick. Construction of the dam required 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete (which is enough to build a two lane highway from San Francisco to New York). In 1928 Congress appropriated $165 million in funds to build the Boulder Dam project for two purposes: flood control and the generation of electricity. Originally called Boulder Dam, it was renamed for Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce, during the critical planning stages of the project.

Completed in 1935, this gravity dam holds back the mighty Colorado River and forms the largest man-made lake, Lake Mead. Hoover Dam is located 40 miles from Las Vegas on Highway 93. Tours are available and they leave every few minutes from the exhibit building at the top of the dam. Regular Tours daily from 8-5:15pm Call (702) 293-8367 Lake Mead National Recreation Area Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake in the country. It is created by Hoover Dam holding back the waters of the Colorado River. Its surface covers 229 square miles and its irregular shoreline extends 550 miles. Lake Mead is located off of Highway 93. The National Park Service can give you details on the lake’s recreational activities and facilities. (702) 293-8990 Las Vegas : LV.Net : Welcome :Las Vegas : Nevada Photo courtesy of Las Vegas 360.com Boulder City / Hoover Dam Boulder City Boulder City was built by the federal government to house the thousands of workers who were building the Hoover Dam project in the 1930s.

In order to keep these workers away from the temptations of Las Vegas, Boulder City was founded and gambling was made illegal. This quaint town remains the only community in Nevada were gaming is still illegal. Management and maintenance crews of Hoover Dam are now the predominant residents of Boulder City. This unique town is a vibrant community, with a movie theater, numerous gift shops, parks and a historic hotel. Call the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce for more information 702.293.2034 or visit . Hoover Dam Hoover Dam- is one of the seven man-made wonders of the world. The dam is 727 feet high (70 stories) and 660 feet thick. Construction of the dam required 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete (which is enough to build a two lane highway from San Francisco to New York). In 1928 Congress appropriated $165 million in funds to build the Boulder Dam project for two purposes: flood control and the generation of electricity. Originally called Boulder Dam, it was renamed for Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce, during the critical planning stages of the project.

Completed in 1935, this gravity dam holds back the mighty Colorado River and forms the largest man-made lake, Lake Mead. Hoover Dam is located 40 miles from Las Vegas on Highway 93. Tours are available and they leave every few minutes from the exhibit building at the top of the dam. Regular Tour adults $8, senior citizens $7. Kids 6-16 $2 Tours daily from 8-5:15 (702) 293-8367. . Lake Mead Recreation Area Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake in the country. It is created by Hoover Dam holding back the waters of the Colorado River. Its surface covers 229 square miles and its irregular shoreline extends 550 miles. Lake Mead is located off of Highway 93. The National Park Service can give you details on the lake's recreational activities and facilities. Call 702.293.8906 or visit .

Lake Mead Cruises has a 250-passenger stern-wheeler that voyages to the lower portion of the lake; breakfast, cocktails, and dinner with dancing are available on some of the cruises. Located at Lake Mead Marina, cost $14.50-$43 adults, $6-$12 for children 3-12. Call 702.293.6180 or visit . A five minute drive along the shore will bring you to Lake Mead Marina. Here you will be able to rent boats, relax on the beach, use the camping facilities, shop in the a gift store and eat at the restaurant. 702.293.3484 A drive about an hour will take you along the north shore where you will find five more marinas. When you reach the upper arm of the lake, about a mile past Overton Beach, look for the sign announcing the Valley of Fire Visitor Center. Bill Belknap: Photographer--Close to Home--Notes In 1937, Bill and his mother moved to Boulder City, Nevada, near the shores of Lake Mead.

The town was originally created to house the workers of Hoover Dam, but the nascent community continued to grow and change after completion of the project. Belknap documented the individuality of this community during the many decades he lived there, both before and after World War II. His involvement in the community and his affinity for the surrounding lands is readily apparent in his photographs close to home.

Question: Which town, later a city, was created to house the workers of the Hoover Dam project?
Answer: BOULDER CITY